It is part of a shake-up at the county council which would save about £700,000 a year.

If the plans go ahead, large parts of the county council’s finance and human resources departments will be transferred to a business centre run by Hampshire County Council in Winchester.

Rodney Rose, Oxfordshire’s deputy leader, said: “There are a number of clear advantages to linking up with Hampshire, not least that such a partnership would lead to more seamless transitions. We now know that this proposal stacks up financially and would deliver the savings we must make while continuing to provide quality back-office services for our frontline teams.

“Cabinet will be asked to approve the proposal on Tuesday, and I am sure it will be fully debated by my cabinet colleagues then.”

About 140 Oxfordshire staff work in teams that would be incorporated into the Hampshire Integrated Business Centre and would be offered the chance to transfer to Hampshire County Council employment.

If staff choose to transfer to Winchester, they will be eligible for financial support for the relocation. If they choose not to transfer, the council has said it will do its best to redeploy them but some redundancies may be made.

In autumn 2013, the county council’s cabinet gave its approval for large parts of HR and finance to be outsourced to a national provider as part of its attempt to save £64m by 2018 because of government cuts. Since then Hampshire County Council approached the council to explore a potential partnership linked in with its IBC business centre, launched in April 2014.

Promoted stories

The IBC delivers back office services to schools and public sector organisations.

Hampshire Constabulary and Hampshire Fire and Rescue are set to join it during 2014.

If Oxfordshire’s cabinet decides to go ahead a full staff consultation will take place in the autumn.

Share article

The county council would join the IBC in 2015.

Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS, SPORT and JAYDEN depending on what services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.

Our top stories

Promoted Stories

Comments (5)

Anyone who has found themselves out of work in Oxford will know that the Job Centre expect them to consider roles that require them to travel up to one hour. It takes around 55 minutes to travel from Oxford to Winchester by car and 1h03m by train. It's a journey I do very regularly.

Anyone who has found themselves out of work in Oxford will know that the Job Centre expect them to consider roles that require them to travel up to one hour.
It takes around 55 minutes to travel from Oxford to Winchester by car and 1h03m by train. It's a journey I do very regularly.Andrew:Oxford

Anyone who has found themselves out of work in Oxford will know that the Job Centre expect them to consider roles that require them to travel up to one hour. It takes around 55 minutes to travel from Oxford to Winchester by car and 1h03m by train. It's a journey I do very regularly.

Score: -1

CowleyBoy says...10:37am Wed 9 Jul 14

If you are out of work and have to apply for a job that far away out of necessity, then that's one thing. But for your current employer to suddenly expect you to incur huge travel costs and extra time out of your day to get to work, that's quite another.

If you are out of work and have to apply for a job that far away out of necessity, then that's one thing.
But for your current employer to suddenly expect you to incur huge travel costs and extra time out of your day to get to work, that's quite another.CowleyBoy

If you are out of work and have to apply for a job that far away out of necessity, then that's one thing. But for your current employer to suddenly expect you to incur huge travel costs and extra time out of your day to get to work, that's quite another.

Score: 0

Gunslinger says...12:51pm Wed 9 Jul 14

This seems to have been an opportunistic move as the Hampshire centre were touting for work. If the County Council are looking to combine services with other authorities, then it would be more logical to combine with Buckinghamshire, which is geographically closer and much more convenient for any staff affected - not to mention the public and others who need to deal with the transferred departments. And Winchester is the most expensive place to live in the south east outside London, hardly an incentive to relocate.

This seems to have been an opportunistic move as the Hampshire centre were touting for work.
If the County Council are looking to combine services with other authorities, then it would be more logical to combine with Buckinghamshire, which is geographically closer and much more convenient for any staff affected - not to mention the public and others who need to deal with the transferred departments.
And Winchester is the most expensive place to live in the south east outside London, hardly an incentive to relocate.Gunslinger

This seems to have been an opportunistic move as the Hampshire centre were touting for work. If the County Council are looking to combine services with other authorities, then it would be more logical to combine with Buckinghamshire, which is geographically closer and much more convenient for any staff affected - not to mention the public and others who need to deal with the transferred departments. And Winchester is the most expensive place to live in the south east outside London, hardly an incentive to relocate.

Score: 2

Man on the Green says...1:18pm Wed 9 Jul 14

OCC could achieve nearly half the projected savings of this major upheaval in one fell swoop if it followed several of the District Councils' example and shared a chief executive with a neighbouring authority. The current chief executive is widely seen - both inside the authority and by stakeholders - as hugely ineffective, and as a major stumbling block to progress on turning a failing authority around (on so many fronts). It is lamentable that Councillors have been unwilling to grasp this nettle, as the issues have been apparent ever since she took over, but many of them are little better!

OCC could achieve nearly half the projected savings of this major upheaval in one fell swoop if it followed several of the District Councils' example and shared a chief executive with a neighbouring authority. The current chief executive is widely seen - both inside the authority and by stakeholders - as hugely ineffective, and as a major stumbling block to progress on turning a failing authority around (on so many fronts). It is lamentable that Councillors have been unwilling to grasp this nettle, as the issues have been apparent ever since she took over, but many of them are little better!Man on the Green

OCC could achieve nearly half the projected savings of this major upheaval in one fell swoop if it followed several of the District Councils' example and shared a chief executive with a neighbouring authority. The current chief executive is widely seen - both inside the authority and by stakeholders - as hugely ineffective, and as a major stumbling block to progress on turning a failing authority around (on so many fronts). It is lamentable that Councillors have been unwilling to grasp this nettle, as the issues have been apparent ever since she took over, but many of them are little better!

Score: 4

mytaxes says...1:47pm Wed 9 Jul 14

What a pity Oxford City Council do not follow this example and save money for the taxpayer. That said, I understand that it must be upsetting for the employees concerned, however, there are no jobs for life nowadays.

What a pity Oxford City Council do not follow this example and save money for the taxpayer. That said, I understand that it must be upsetting for the employees concerned, however, there are no jobs for life nowadays.mytaxes

What a pity Oxford City Council do not follow this example and save money for the taxpayer. That said, I understand that it must be upsetting for the employees concerned, however, there are no jobs for life nowadays.

Ipsoregulated

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standardards Organisations's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a compaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here